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Opposition statement on AG Report into eGaming

Posted|October 5, 2016

Charlottetown
– Stratford-Kinlock
MLA and Public Accounts Committee Chair James Aylward today issued the following
statement on the release of the Auditor General’s investigation into the eGaming
scandal:

“Islanders
are finally starting to learn some of the details of how this government abused
taxpayer dollars on this ill-considered scheme that has cost at least $1.5
million so far that we know of. I want to thank the Auditor General and her
staff for their exhaustive work on this important file.

This
report paints a picture of a government that plays fast and loose with taxpayer
money and breaks the rules when it sees fit. The Auditor General was crystal
clear in the report that the common theme was ‘inadequate protection of
taxpayers’ interests’, along with multiple cases of conflict of interest by
senior government officials. The Auditor also clearly explains and highlights
the limitations of her audit scope investigation as directed by Cabinet's
reference of the file to her office.

I
am further troubled the Premier would task Finance Minister Al Roach with
leading the cleanup on this mess which extends deep into the bowels of
government. Minister Roach was a key player in the file from 2011-2015 in his
former portfolio as Innovation Minister and since 2015 as Finance Minister.
Islanders would be right to question the impartiality of Minister Roach given
his previous public statements in the House on this file, which have been proven
to be false. It is also concerning to learn from the Auditor General that the
Premier’s own Justice Department was less than cooperative with the development
of this report. That flies in the face of the Premier’s comments about being
open and transparent.

Given
those factors and the ongoing resistance of government to get to the bottom of
this file, I am renewing our call for a Public Inquiry under the Public Inquires
Act to conduct an investigation of this eGaming scandal, to complete the work
the Office of the Auditor General was unable to do."